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Cooper Color Codes

Combat Mindset - The Cooper Color Code

The most important means of surviving a lethal confrontation is,
according to Cooper, neither the weapon nor the martial skills. The
primary tool is the combat mindset, set forth in his book, Principles of Personal Defense In the chapter on awareness, Cooper presents an adaptation of the Marine Corps system to differentiate states of readiness:

The color code as originally introduced by Jeff Cooper, had nothing
to do with tactical situations or alertness levels, but rather with
one's state of mind. As taught by Cooper, it relates to the degree of
peril you are willing to do something about and which allows you to
move from one level of mindset to another to enable you to properly
handle a given situation. Cooper didn't claim to have invented anything
in particular with the color code, but he was apparently the first to
use it as an indication of mental state.

White - Unaware and unprepared. If attacked in Condition
White, the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy or ineptitude
of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty, your reaction
will probably be "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."

Yellow - Relaxed alert. No specific threat situation. Your
mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself."
You are simply aware that the world is a potentially unfriendly place
and that you are prepared to defend yourself, if necessary. You use
your eyes and ears, and realize that "I may have to SHOOT today." You
don't have to be armed in this state, but if you are armed you should
be in Condition Yellow. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are
in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don't know. You can
remain in Yellow for long periods, as long as you are able to "Watch
your six." (In aviation 12 o'clock refers to the direction in front of
the aircraft's nose. Six o'clock is the blind spot
behind the pilot.) In Yellow, you are "taking in" surrounding
information in a relaxed but alert manner, like a continuous 360 degree
radar sweep. As Cooper put it, "I might have to shoot."

Orange - Specific alert. Something is not quite right and
has gotten your attention. Your radar has picked up a specific alert.
You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat (but you
do not drop your six). Your mindset shifts to "I may have to shoot HIM
today," focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation
in alert status. In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: "If
that goblin does 'x', I will need to stop him." Your pistol usually
remains holstered in this state. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a
mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If
the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.

Red - Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger
(established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. If "X" happens
I will shoot that person.

The USMC also uses "Condition Black" as actively engaged in combat,
as do some of Cooper's successors, but Cooper always felt this was an
unnecessary step and not in keeping with the mindset definition of the
color code since it is a state of action.

In short, the Color Code helps you "think" in a fight. As the level
of danger increases, your willingness to take certain actions
increases. If you ever do go to Condition Red, the decision to use
lethal force has already been made (your "mental trigger" has been
tripped).

The following are some of Cooper's additional comments on the subject.

"Considering the principles of personal defense, we have long since
come up with the Color Code. This has met with surprising success in
debriefings throughout the world. The Color Code, as we preach it, runs
white, yellow, orange, and red, and is a means of setting one’s mind
into the proper condition when exercising lethal violence, and is not
as easy as I had thought at first.

There is a problem in that some students insist upon confusing the
appropriate color with the amount of danger evident in the situation.
As I have long taught, you are not in any color state because of the
specific amount of danger you may be in, but rather in a mental state
which enables you to take a difficult psychological step."Now, however,
the government has gone into this and is handing out color codes
nationwide based upon the apparent nature of a peril. It has always
been difficult to teach the Gunsite Color Code, and now it is more so.

We cannot say that the government’s ideas about colors are wrong,
but that they are different from what we have long taught here."The
problem is this: your combat mind-set is not dictated by the amount of
danger to which you are exposed at the time. Your combat mind-set is
properly dictated by the state of mind you think appropriate to the
situation. You may be in deadly danger at all times, regardless of what
the Defense Department tells you. The color code which influences you
does depend upon the willingness you have to jump a psychological
barrier against taking irrevocable action. That decision is less hard
to make since the jihadis have already made it."

He further simplified things in Vol 13 #7 of his Commentaries...

"In White you are unprepared and unready to take lethal action. If
you are attacked in White you will probably die unless your adversary
is totally inept.

In Yellow you bring yourself to the understanding that your life may
be in danger and that you may have to do something about it.

In Orange you have determined upon a specific adversary and are
prepared to take action which may result in his death, but you are not
in a lethal mode.

In Red you are in a lethal mode and will shoot if circumstances warrant."